Indirectly-elected lawmakers Kou Hoi In and Vong Hin Fai yesterday called for an urgent plenary session to debate and vote on a draft resolution on whether the suspension of a lawmaker by his or her peers is a “political act”, according to the website of the Legislative Assembly (AL).

The legislature has arranged a plenary session on Tuesday to debate and vote on the draft resolution, the legislature said on its website yesterday.

The two legislators jointly propose the draft resolution in response to directly-elected lawmaker Sulu Sou Ka Hou having recently filed an appeal to the Court of Second Instance (TSI) over certain legal matters concerning the process and procedure of his suspension as a lawmaker last month.

Sou said in a statement on Wednesday that he had filed an appeal with the Court of Second Instance to examine the legality of the process and procedure of his suspension by his peers.

During a plenary session on December 4, Sou was suspended from the Legislative Assembly, when 28 of the 33 members of the legislature voted for his suspension so that he can stand trial for alleged aggravated disobedience.

It is the first suspension of a lawmaker since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999.

The legislature said in a statement on November 13 that the Court of First Instance (TJB) had requested the legislature to make a decision on whether Sou was to be suspended as a lawmaker so that he could stand trial for the alleged crime.

Prosecution of offences allegedly committed by a lawmaker that are punishable by less than three years must be authorised by the legislature.

According to Article 312 of the Macau Penal Code, aggravated disobedience is punishable by a fine or up to two years behind bars.

Sou and fellow activist Chiang stand accused of aggravated disobedience in the wake of a demonstration in May 2016 against the public Macau Foundation’s controversial decision to donate 100 million yuan (122 million patacas) to Jinan University in Guangzhou.

The trial of the duo’s case is now slated to start on Tuesday, after last week’s decision by the court to postpone the commencement of the trial for a week, following an urgent request of the two suspects’ local Portuguese lawyer.

In the statement on Wednesday, Sou said that after seeking legal advice, he filed an appeal concerning his suspension from the legislature to the Court of Second Instance on Thursday last week.

Sou said in the statement that as underlined by him and several fellow lawmakers during the plenary session on December 4, “several flaws” affected the process and procedure of his suspension, including his right to defend himself and elaborate on his aggravated disobedience case. He said he believed that it would be appropriate for a judicial body to “clarify the legal matters involved”.

Pointing out that any lawmaker casts his or her vote in an individual capacity, Sou said in the statement that his appeal to the Court of Second Instance was not seeking to change the outcome of the decision by his peers during the December 4 plenum, adding that his appeal was merely for an “independent body” to examine the legality of the process and procedure of the suspension.

In the statement, Sou also said that his action to file the appeal was not in his own interest but in the public interest. He said that his appeal was meant to “clarify” the relevant legal viewpoints “so as to serve as a significant reference for future similar procedures”. He also said that his appeal would also contribute to improving the operation of the legislature and to enhance its dignity.

The draft resolution jointly proposed by Kou, a businessman, and Vong, a lawyer, asserts that according to the Legislative Assembly Lawmakers Statute, the act of deciding whether a lawmaker should be suspended by his or her peers and the act of deciding whether a lawmaker should be disqualified are both “political acts”, adding that such acts are not to be interfered with by any other entities or individuals so as to not affect the operation of the political system stipulated by the Macau Basic Law.

The resolution by the two legislators also asserts that according to the Judicial Organisation Framework Law, political acts cannot be subject to appeals by any entity or individual to the judicial system.

Indirectly-elected lawmakers Kou Hoi In (right) and Vong Hin Fai pose during a press briefing after a meeting of the legislature’s House Rules Committee in November. Kou and Vong are the president and secretary of the committee. Photo: Tony Wong

Directly-elected lawmaker Sulu Sou Ka Hou (left) speaks to reporters in the legislative chamber in early December after a plenary session in which his peers voted for his suspension from the Legislative Assembly (AL), as fellow activist Scott Chiang Meng Hin (second from left) looks on. A supporter holds a poster urging the public to support Sou. Photo: MPDG